Image capturing apparatus, and control method and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium

ABSTRACT

This invention provides an image capturing apparatus comprising an image capturing unit, and a communication unit for communicating with a distribution server via internet, wherein the image capturing apparatus comprises a time measuring unit for measuring, if a distribution instruction for live distribution using the distribution server has been given, an elapsed time since the instruction has been given; and a control unit for starting, if the elapsed time measured by the time measuring unit has reached a predetermined set time, distributing an image captured by the image capturing unit to the distribution server via the communication unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus, and acontrol method, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

Description of the Related Art

In recent years, moving image distribution services via the Internethave been increasing, and it has become common for an individual todistribute a live video. In particular, many self-shot live videos aredistributed by individuals operating a control on the user side of animaging device. Regarding such live video distribution, the document:Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2018-129802 proposes a method in which alive video is distributed in real-time while adding effects fordecorating the live video.

However, in the conventional technique proposed in the above-describeddocument, a reference is made to a method for distributing a live video,but no reference is made to a method for preventing an inadvertentappearance of a hand with which a control such as a “distribution startmember” is operated. Furthermore, if distribution is started soon afteroperating the distribution start member, the time to finish preparationfor the start of distribution after the member has been operated cannotbe controlled, resulting in a problem that a video that is not intendedto be made publicly available may be distributed. This problem can besolved by deleting any unnecessary video by editing a moving image filein the case of shooting moving images that are to be recorded in theapparatus of the user; however, the images have already been madepublicly available to third parties due to the live video distribution,and also cannot be edited afterward.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and it isan object thereof to provide a technique for reducing the possibility ofdistributing any unnecessary video when starting live distribution.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an imagecapturing apparatus comprising image capturing unit, and communicationunit arranged to communicate with a distribution server via theinternet, wherein the image capturing apparatus comprises: a timemeasuring unit configured to measure, if a distribution instruction forlive distribution using the distribution server has been given, anelapsed time since the distribution instruction has been given; and acontrol unit configured to start, if the elapsed time measured by thetime measuring unit has reached a set time, distributing an imagecaptured by the image capturing unit to the distribution server via thecommunication unit.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided acontrol method of an image capturing apparatus including image capturingunit, and communication unit arranged to communicate with a distributionserver via the internet, the method comprising: measuring, if adistribution instruction for live distribution using the distributionserver has been given, an elapsed time since the distributioninstruction has been given; and controlling to start, if the elapsedtime measured by the time measuring processing has reached apredetermined set time, distributing an image captured by the imagecapturing unit to the distribution server via the communication unit.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided acomputer-readable storage medium storing program which, when read andexecuted by a computer, causes the computer to perform the steps of acontrol method of an image capturing apparatus including image capturingunit, and communication unit for communicating with a distributionserver via internet, the method comprising: measuring, if a distributioninstruction for live distribution using the distribution server has beengiven, an elapsed time since the distribution instruction has beengiven; and controlling to start, if the elapsed time measured by thetime measuring processing has reached a predetermined set time,distributing an image captured by the image capturing unit to thedistribution server via the communication unit.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce thepossibility of distributing any unnecessary video when starting livedistribution.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to theattached drawings).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are external views of an image capturing apparatusaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image capturingapparatus of the embodiment.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing a flowchart of main processing inthe embodiment.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing a flowchart of self-timer settingprocessing in the embodiment.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing a flowchart of still image shootingprocessing in the embodiment.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams showing a flowchart of moving imageshooting processing in the embodiment.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing a flowchart of live distributionprocessing in the embodiment.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams showing a flowchart of preview distributionprocessing in the embodiment.

FIGS. 9A to 9D are diagrams showing respective shooting standby screensof a still image recording mode, a moving image shooting mode, a livedistribution mode, and a preview distribution mode in the embodiment.

FIGS. 10A to 10D are diagrams showing respective screens during countingof a self-timer of the still image recording mode, the moving imageshooting mode, the live distribution mode, and the preview distributionmode in the embodiment.

FIGS. 11A to 11D are diagrams showing respective self-timer settingscreens of the still image recording mode, the moving image shootingmode, the live distribution mode, and the preview distribution mode inthe embodiment.

FIGS. 12A to 12C are diagrams showing a flowchart of main processing forswitching between live distribution and preview distribution in theembodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In the following, embodiments according to the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Itshould be appreciated that the configurations in the followingembodiments are merely illustrative, and the present invention is notlimited to the configurations shown in the drawings. Each of theembodiments of the present invention described below can be implementedsolely or as a combination of a plurality of the embodiments. Also,features from different embodiments can be combined where necessary orwhere the combination of elements or features from individualembodiments in a single embodiment is beneficial.

FIG. 1A is a rear perspective view of a digital camera 100 as an exampleof an image capturing apparatus to which an embodiment is applied, andFIG. 1B is a front perspective view of the digital camera 100.

A display unit 28 displays images and various types of information. Inaddition, the display unit 28 is of a variable angle type, and itsdisplay surface can be directed toward the subject (in the direction ofthe line of sight of a shooting lens of the digital camera). A shutterbutton 61 is an operation unit for providing a shooting instruction. Amode switching button 60 is an operation unit for switching betweenvarious modes. A connector 112 is a connector between the digital camera100 and a connection cable 111 for establishing a connection with anexternal device such as a personal computer or a printer. An operationunit 70 is an operation unit composed of various operation members thatreceive various operations from the user, such as a switch, a button,and a touch panel. A controller wheel 73 is an operation member that isincluded in the operation unit 70 and that can be operated throughrotation. A power switch 72 is a push button for switching betweenpower-on and power-off. A recording medium 200 is a recording mediumsuch as a memory card or a hard disk. A recording medium slot 201 is aslot for housing the recording medium 200. The recording medium 200housed in the recording medium slot 201 is capable of communicating withthe digital camera 100, and information can be recorded to andreproduced from the recording medium 200. A cover 202 is the cover ofthe recording medium slot 201. FIG. 1A shows a state in which the cover202 is opened, and a portion of the recording medium 200 is taken outand exposed from the slot 201. A light-emitting unit 140 is formed by alight-emitting diode (LED) or the like, and notifies the subject locatedon the front side of the camera of an operating state (e.g., duringcountdown of a self-timer, start of shooting, etc.) of the digitalcamera 100, using a predetermined emission/non-emission pattern. Thelight-emitting unit 140 is disposed on the front surface of the camera(the subject side, the image capturing plane side) so as to be visiblefrom the subject side. A moving image button 76 is used to provide aninstruction to start or stop moving image shooting (recording). Aspeaker 92 notifies the subject of an operating state (e.g., duringcountdown of a self-timer, start of shooting, etc.) of the digitalcamera 100 by producing a buzzing sound or the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the digital camera100 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, a shooting lens 103is a lens group including a zoom lens and a focus lens. A shutter 101 isa shutter having an aperture function. An image capturing unit 22 is animage capturing element formed by, for example, a CCD or CMOS elementthat converts an optical image into an electric signal. An A/D converter23 converts an analog signal into a digital signal. The A/D converter 23is used to convert an analog signal that is output from the imagecapturing unit 22 into a digital signal. A barrier 102 covers animage-capturing system of the digital camera 100, including the shootinglens 103, thus preventing the image-capturing system including theshooting lens 103, the shutter 101, and the image capturing unit 22 frombeing stained or damaged.

An image processing unit 24 performs resizing processing such aspredetermined pixel interpolation or reduction and color conversionprocessing for data from the A/D converter 23 or data from a memorycontrol unit 15. In addition, the image processing unit 24 performspredetermined arithmetic processing using captured image data. A systemcontrol unit 50 performs exposure control and distance-measuring controlbased on the obtained results of the arithmetic processing performed bythe image processing unit 24. Consequently, through-the-lens (TTL) autofocus (AF) processing, auto exposure (AE) processing, and pre-flash (EF)processing are performed. Furthermore, the image processing unit 24performs predetermined arithmetic processing using captured image data,and performs TTL auto white balance (AWB) processing based on theobtained results of the arithmetic processing.

Output data from the A/D converter 23 is written via the imageprocessing unit 24 and the memory control unit 15, or written directlyto the memory 32 via the memory control unit 15. The memory 32 storesimage data that has been obtained by the image capturing unit 22 andconverted into digital data by the A/D converter 23, and image data forbeing displayed on the display unit 28. The memory 32 has a storagecapacity that is sufficient to store a predetermined number of stillimages, and a moving image and audio of a predetermined time length.

The memory 32 also serves as an image display memory (video memory). AD/A converter 13 converts image display data that is stored in thememory 32 into an analog signal, and supplies the signal to the displayunit 28. Thus, the display image data that has been written to thememory 32 is displayed by the display unit 28 via the D/A converter 13.The display unit 28 performs display on a display device such as an LCDin accordance with the analog signal from the D/A converter 13. Digitalsignals that have been once A/D converted by the A/D converter 23 andthen accumulated in the memory 32 are converted into analog signals inthe D/A converter 13, and the analog signals are successivelytransferred to the display unit 28 for display, thus allowing thedisplay unit 28 to function as an electronic viewfinder and enablingthrough-image display (live-view display (LV display)) to be performed.Hereinafter, an image displayed in live view is referred to as “LVimage”.

A non-volatile memory 56 is a memory serving as an electricallyerasable/recordable recording medium, and an EEPROM or the like may beused, for example. Constants, a program, and the like for operating thesystem control unit 50 are stored in the non-volatile memory 56. Theprogram as used herein refers to a computer program for executingvarious flowcharts, which will be described later, in the presentembodiment.

The system control unit 50 is a control unit including at least oneprocessor or circuit, and controls the overall digital camera 100. Thesystem control unit 50 implements various types of processing, whichwill be described later, in the present embodiment by executing theprogram recorded in the non-volatile memory 56 described above. As asystem memory 52, a RAM may be used, for example. Constants andvariables for operating the system control unit 50, the program readfrom the non-volatile memory 56, and so forth are loaded into the systemmemory 52. In addition, the system control unit 50 also performs displaycontrol by controlling the memory 32, the D/A converter 13, the displayunit 28, and so forth.

A system timer 53 is a time measuring unit for measuring the times usedfor various controls, and the time of a built-in clock.

The mode switching button 60, the shutter button 61, and the operationunit 70 function as operation means for inputting various operationinstructions into the system control unit 50. The mode switching button60 switches the operating mode of the system control unit 50 to one of astill image recording mode, a moving image shooting mode, a livedistribution mode, a preview distribution mode, a reproduction mode, andso forth. Examples of the modes that can be included in the still imagerecording mode include an automatic shooting mode, an automatic scenedetermination mode, a manual mode, an aperture priority mode (Av mode),a shutter speed priority mode (Tv mode), and a program AE mode. Otherexamples thereof include various scene modes having their respectiveshooting settings corresponding to the shooting scenes, a custom mode,and so forth. The mode switching button 60 allows the user to directlyswitch the mode to one of the above-described modes. Alternatively, theuser may use the mode switching button 60 to perform switching to ashooting mode list screen temporarily, thereafter, select one of aplurality of modes displayed on the screen, and then perform switchingto the selected mode using another operation member. Similarly, themoving image shooting mode may also include a plurality of modes.

The shutter button 61 includes a first shutter switch 62 and a secondshutter switch 64 for detecting its pressing state. The first shutterswitch 62 is turned on when the shutter button 61 provided on thedigital camera 100 is being operated partway, so-called half-pressed(shooting preparation instruction), and a first shutter switch signalSW1 is generated. The system control unit 50 starts operations such asauto focus (AF) processing, auto exposure (AE) processing, auto whitebalance (AWB) processing, and pre-flash (EF) processing when triggeredby the reception of the first shutter switch signal SW1. The secondshutter switch 64 is turned on when the operation of the shutter button61 is completed, so-called full-pressed (shooting instruction), and asecond shutter switch signal SW2 is generated. The system control unit50 starts operations of a series of shooting processing, from readingout of a signal from the image capturing unit 22 to writing of imagedata to the recording medium 200, when triggered by the reception of thesecond shutter switch signal SW2.

The operation members of the operation unit 70 have their respectivefunctions assigned as appropriate thereto for each scene, for example,by selectively operating various function icons displayed on the displayunit 28, and act as various function buttons. Examples of the functionbuttons include an end button, a return button, an image feed button, ajump button, a narrow-down button, and an attribute change button. Forexample, a menu screen through which various settings can be performedis displayed on the display unit 28 when a menu button is pressed. Theuser can intuitively perform various settings using the menu screendisplayed on the display unit 28, a four-direction button for upward,downward, leftward and rightward directions, and a SET button.

The controller wheel 73 is an operation member that is included in theoperation unit 70 and that can be operated through rotation, and is usedtogether with the four-direction button when instructing a selecteditem. When the controller wheel 73 is operated through rotation, anelectric pulse signal is generated according to the amount of theoperation, and the system control unit 50 controls each of the variousportions of the digital camera 100 based on the pulse signal. Based onthe pulse signal, the angle at which the controller wheel 73 has beenoperated through rotation, and how many times the controller wheel 73has been rotated can be determined. Note that the controller wheel 73may be any operation member whose operation through rotation can bedetected. For example, the controller wheel 73 may be a dial operationmember, or more specifically, the controller wheel 73 itself may rotatein response to a user operation through rotation, thus generating apulse signal. Alternatively, the controller wheel 73 may be an operationmember formed by a touch sensor, and may detect, for example, a user'sfinger rotation action on the controller wheel 73 without the controllerwheel 73 itself rotating (so-called, a touch wheel).

A power control unit 80 is composed of a battery detection circuit, aDC-DC converter, a switch circuit for switching a block to which acurrent is to be applied, and so forth, and detects the mounting of abattery, the type of the battery, and the remaining battery power. Inaddition, the power control unit 80 controls the DC-DC converter basedon the result of detection and an instruction from the system controlunit 50, and supplies a necessary voltage to various portions includingthe recording medium 200 for a necessary period. The power unit 30 isformed by a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a lithiumbattery, a secondary battery such as a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery or aLi battery, an AC adapter, or the like.

A recording medium I/F 18 is an interface to the recording medium 200such as a memory card or a hard disk. The recording medium 200 is arecording medium, such as a memory card, for recording a captured image,and is constituted by a semiconductor memory, an optical disc, amagnetic disk, or the like.

A communication unit 54 establishes a connection using a wireless orwired cable, and transmits and receives a video signal, an audio signal,and the like. The communication unit 54 can also establishes aconnection with a wireless local area network (LAN) and the Internet.The communication unit 54 can transmit an image (including a throughimage) captured by the image capturing unit 22 and an image recorded inthe recording medium 200, and also can receive image data and othervarious types of information from an external device.

An orientation detecting unit 55 detects the orientation of the digitalcamera 100 relative to the direction of gravity. Based on theorientation detected by the orientation detecting unit 55, the systemcontrol unit 50 can determine whether an image captured by the imagecapturing unit 22 is an image captured when the digital camera 100 isheld horizontally or an image captured when the digital camera 100 isheld vertically. The system control unit 50 can also add orientationinformation corresponding to the orientation detected by the orientationdetecting unit 55 to an image file of an image captured by the imagecapturing unit 22, and rotate the image before being recorded. Anacceleration sensor, a gyrosensor, or the like can be used as theorientation detecting unit 55. Using an acceleration sensor or agyrosensor serving as the orientation detecting unit 55, it is alsopossible to detect motions (a pan, a tilt, a lift-up, whether or notbeing still, etc.) of the digital camera 100.

The flowcharts in FIGS. 3A and 3B show main processing including modetransitions. Each processing shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B is implemented bythe system control unit 50 loading the program stored in thenon-volatile memory 56 to the system memory 52 and executing theprogram, after the power switch 72 has been turned on.

In step S301, the system control unit 50 determines whether the user hasgiven an instruction to transition to the still image recording mode,based on a signal from the mode switching button 60. If it is determinedthat an instruction to transition to the still image recording mode hasbeen given by the user, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S305. If it is determined that an instruction totransition to the still image recording mode has not been given by theuser, the system control unit 50 advances the processing to step S302.

In step S302, the system control unit 50 determines whether the user hasgiven an instruction to transition to the moving image shooting mode,based on a signal from the mode switching button 60. If it is determinedthat an instruction to transition to the moving image shooting mode hasbeen given by the user, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S306. If it is determined that an instruction totransition to the moving image shooting mode has not been given by theuser, the system control unit 50 advances the processing to step S303.

In step S303, the system control unit 50 determines whether the user hasgiven an instruction to transition to the live distribution mode (modein which an image currently being captured is distributed), based on asignal from the mode switching button 60. If it is determined that aninstruction to transition to the live distribution mode has been givenby the user, the system control unit 50 advances the processing to stepS307. If it is determined that an instruction to transition to the livedistribution mode has not been given by the user, the system controlunit 50 advances the processing to step S304. Note that the livedistribution mode is a mode in which image data is distributed toanother image communication apparatus in order to make the image datapublicly available to a third party.

In step S304, the system control unit 50 determines whether the user hasgiven an instruction to transition to the preview distribution mode,based on a signal from the mode switching button 60. If it is determinedthat an instruction to transition to the preview distribution mode hasbeen given by the user, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S308. If it is determined that an instruction totransition to the preview distribution mode has not been given by theuser, the system control unit 50 returns the processing to step S301.Note that the preview distribution mode is a mode in which image data isdistributed to another image communication apparatus, and the image datacan be confirmed only by the user without being made publicly availableto a third party.

In either of the live distribution mode and the preview distributionmode, image data is transmitted to a distribution server on theInternet. However, a moving image is not made publicly available to athird party in the preview distribution mode, and is made publiclyavailable to a large number of unspecified users in the livedistribution mode. Making a moving image publicly available as usedherein refers to making the moving image accessible to a large number ofunspecified users to access without the need to input a key code such asa password. In the present embodiment, the account of a distributionuser is registered in advance in a distribution server on the Internet,and a login is performed using the account of the distribution user.That is, a login is performed using an account ID and a password thathave been registered in advance. In this state, a moving imagetransmitted in the preview distribution mode can be viewed. In thepreview distribution mode, the distribution user can confirm how themoving image will be viewed from another user. In the live distributionmode, anyone who accesses the URL of an event that is being distributedlive can view the moving image, without performing a login using theaccount of the distribution user.

Note that the distribution destination in the live distribution mode andthe distribution destination in the preview distribution mode of thedigital camera 100 in the embodiment may be separately set in advance bythe user via the operation unit, and pieces of information thatrespectively specify the destinations may be held in the memory 32 orthe like. In this case, the distribution destination in the previewdistribution mode is, typically, an apparatus used by the user of thedigital camera 100 or the subject in order to confirm a captured image,and may be, for example, a portable terminal such as a smartphone ownedby the user. On the other hand, the live distribution mode is publiclyavailable to a third party, and therefore the distribution destinationthereof is a server on the Internet, for example.

In step S305, the system control unit 50 changes the camera state to thestill image recording mode. In step S306, the system control unit 50changes the camera state to the moving image shooting mode. In stepS307, the system control unit 50 changes the camera state to the livedistribution mode. In step S308, the system control unit 50 changes thecamera state to the preview distribution mode. Note that the systemcontrol unit 50 stores and holds information indicating the changed modein the system memory 52.

In step S309, the system control unit 50 displays, on the display unit28, a screen indicating a shooting standby state in the still imagerecording mode. FIG. 9A shows an example of the screen for the shootingstandby state in the still image recording mode displayed on the displayunit 28 in the present embodiment.

In step S310, the system control unit 50 displays, on the display unit28, a screen indicating a shooting standby state in the moving imageshooting mode. FIG. 9B shows an example of the screen for the shootingstandby state in the moving image shooting mode displayed on the displayunit 28 in the present embodiment.

In step S311, the system control unit 50 displays, on the display unit28, a screen indicating a shooting standby state in the livedistribution mode. FIG. 9C shows an example of the screen for theshooting standby state in the live distribution mode displayed on thedisplay unit 28 in the present embodiment.

In step S312, the system control unit 50 displays, on the display unit28, a screen indicating a shooting standby state in the previewdistribution mode. FIG. 9D shows an example of the screen for theshooting standby state in the preview distribution mode displayed on thedisplay unit 28 in the present embodiment.

In step S313, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to start a self-timer setting screen has been given by theuser. If it is determined that an instruction to start a self-timersetting screen has been given by the user, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S317, and if it is determined that theaforementioned instruction has not been given, the system control unit50 advances the processing to step S321.

In step S314, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to start a self-timer setting screen has been given by theuser. If it is determined that an instruction to start a self-timersetting screen has been given by the user, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S318, and if it is determined that theaforementioned instruction has not been given, the system control unit50 advances the processing to step S322.

In step S315, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to start a self-timer setting screen has been given by theuser. If it is determined that an instruction to start a self-timersetting screen has been given by the user, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S319, and if it is determined that theaforementioned instruction has not been given, the system control unit50 advances the processing to step S323.

In step S316, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to start a self-timer setting screen has been given by theuser. If it is determined that an instruction to start a self-timersetting screen has been given by the user, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S320, and if it is determined that theaforementioned instruction has not been given, the system control unit50 advances the processing to step S324.

In step S317, the system control unit 50 performs self-timer settingprocessing, which will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B.In step S318, the system control unit 50 performs the self-timer settingprocessing, which will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B.In step S319, the system control unit 50 performs the self-timer settingprocessing, which will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 5B.In step S320, the system control unit 50 performs the self-timer settingprocessing, which will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B.

In step S321, the system control unit 50 performs still image shootingprocessing. The details of the still image shooting processing will bedescribed later with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B.

In step S322, the system control unit 50 performs moving image shootingprocessing. The details of the moving image shooting processing will bedescribed later with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B.

In step S323, the system control unit 50 performs live distributionprocessing. The details of the live distribution processing will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B.

In step S324, the system control unit 50 performs preview distributionprocessing. The details of the preview distribution processing will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B.

In step S325, the system control unit 50 determines whether the powerswitch 72 has been turned off. If it is determined that the power switch72 has been turned off, the system control unit 50 ends the mainprocessing, and if it is determined that the power switch 72 has notbeen turned off, the system control unit 50 returns the processing tostep S301.

Next, the self-timer setting processing from steps S317 to S320 will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B. FIGS. 4A and 4Bare flowcharts showing an example of processing from displaying aself-timer setting screen to completing self-timer setting in thepresent embodiment.

In step S401, the system control unit 50 displays a self-timer settingscreen on the display unit 28.

FIG. 11A shows an example of a self-timer setting screen for still imagerecording displayed on the display unit 28 in the present embodiment.FIG. 11B shows an example of a self-timer setting screen for movingimage shooting displayed on the display unit 28. FIG. 11C shows anexample of a self-timer setting screen for live distribution displayedin the display unit 28. FIG. 11D shows an example of a self-timersetting screen for preview distribution displayed on the display unit28.

Here, the set number of seconds of the self-timer is 2 or 10; however,the set number of seconds may be a number other than these numbers, ormay be set as appropriate by the user. It is to be understood that thenumbers shown in the drawings are merely illustrative.

In step S402, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to set a still image self-timer has been given by the user.If it is determined that an instruction to set a still image self-timerhas been given by the user, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S403, and if it is determined that the instructionhas not been given, the system control unit 50 advances the processingto step S406.

In step S403, the system control unit 50 determines whether theinstructed number of seconds for which the still image self-timer hasbeen set is 2. If it is determined that the instructed number of secondsfor which the still image self-timer has been set is 2, the systemcontrol unit 50 advances the processing to step S404, and if it isdetermined that the instructed number of seconds is not 2 (if theinstructed number of seconds is 10), the system control unit 50 advancesthe processing to step S405.

In step S404, the system control unit 50 sets the number of seconds ofthe still image self-timer to 2. In step S405, the system control unit50 sets the number of seconds of the still image self-timer to 10.

In step S406, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to set a moving image self-timer has been given by the user.If it is determined that an instruction to set a moving image self-timerhas been given by the user, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S407, and if it is determined that the instructionhas not been given, the system control unit 50 advances the processingto step S410.

In step S407, the system control unit 50 determines whether theinstructed number of seconds for which the moving image self-timer hasbeen set is 2. If it is determined that the instructed number of secondsfor which the moving image self-timer has been set is 2, the systemcontrol unit 50 advances the processing to step S408, and if it isdetermined that the instructed number of seconds is not 2 (if theinstructed number of seconds is 10), the system control unit 50 advancesthe processing to step S409.

In step S408, the system control unit 50 sets the number of seconds ofthe moving image self-timer to 2. In step S409, the system control unit50 sets the number of seconds of the moving image self-timer to 10.

In step S410, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to set a live distribution self-timer has been given by theuser. If it is determined that an instruction to set a live distributionself-timer has been given, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S411, and if it is determined that the instructionhas not been given, the system control unit 50 advances the processingto step S414.

In step S411, the system control unit 50 determines whether theinstructed number of seconds for which the live distribution self-timerhas been set is 2. If it is determined that the instructed number ofseconds for which the live distribution self-timer has been set is 2,the system control unit 50 advances the processing to step S412, and ifit is determined that the instructed number of seconds is not 2 (if theinstructed number of seconds is 10), the system control unit 50 advancesthe processing to step S413.

In step S412, the system control unit 50 sets the number of seconds ofthe live distribution self-timer to 2. In step S413, the system controlunit 50 sets the number of seconds of the live distribution self-timerto 10.

In step S414, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to set a preview distribution self-timer has been given bythe user. If it is determined that an instruction to set a previewdistribution self-timer has been given by the user, the system controlunit 50 advances the processing to step S415, and if it is determinedthat the instruction has not been given, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S417.

In step S415, the system control unit 50 determines whether the livedistribution self-timer has been set by the user. If it is determinedthat the live distribution self-timer has been set, the system controlunit 50 advances the processing to step S416, and if it is determinedthat the live distribution self-timer has not been set, the systemcontrol unit 50 advances the processing to step S417.

In step S416, the system control unit 50 changes the set number ofseconds of the preview distribution self-timer to be the same as the setnumber of seconds of the live distribution self-timer.

Note that in the present embodiment, the effect provided by changing theset number of seconds of the preview distribution self-timer to be thesame as the set number of seconds of the live distribution self-timer isas follows: For a user who wishes to check whether an inadvertentappearance of the hand can be prevented within the number of seconds ofthe self-timer set in the live distribution, it is not necessary tochange the set number of seconds of the preview distribution self-timerif the user changes only the set number of seconds of the livedistribution self-timer, and therefore the number of procedures requiredfor changing is reduced. The set number of seconds of the previewdistribution self-timer may not only be set to be the same as the numberof seconds of the live distribution self-timer, but also be set freely.

In step S417, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to end the self-timer setting screen has been given by theuser. If it is determined that an instruction to end the self-timersetting screen has been given, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S418, and if it is determined that the aforementionedinstruction has not been given, the system control unit 50 returns theprocessing to step S402.

In step S418, the system control unit 50 displays a shooting standbyscreen on the display unit 28.

Next, the still image shooting processing in step S321 shown in FIG. 3Awill be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 5A and5B. FIGS. 5A and 5B are flowcharts showing an example of processingperformed from when the shutter button 61 has been pressed until stillimage capturing is completed in the present embodiment.

In step S501, the system control unit 50 determines whether the movingimage button 76 has been pressed. If it is determined that the movingimage button 76 has been pressed, the system control unit 50 advancesthe processing to step S502, and if it is determined that the movingimage button 76 has not been pressed, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S504.

In step S502, the system control unit 50 changes the camera state to atemporary moving image shooting mode. The temporary moving imageshooting mode refers to a mode in which the camera state is changed tothe moving image shooting mode only when a moving image is beingrecorded, and the camera state is returned to the still image recordingmode when the recording of the moving image ends. In step S503, thesystem control unit 50 stores the mode before the transition in thememory 32. Then, the system control unit 50 advances the processing tostep S602 in FIG. 6A, which will be described later.

In step S504, the system control unit 50 determines whether a firstshutter switch signal SW1 resulting from the shutter button 61 beinghalf-pressed has been generated. If it is determined that the firstshutter switch signal SW1 has been generated, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S505, and if it is determined that thefirst shutter switch signal SW1 has not been generated, the systemcontrol unit 50 returns the processing to step S501. That is, the systemcontrol unit 50 waits for generation of the first shutter switch signalSW1 (half-pressing of the shutter button 61).

In step S505, in response to the generation of the first shutter switchsignal SW1, the system control unit 50 starts shooting preparationoperations such as auto focus (AF) processing, auto exposure (AE)processing, auto white balance (AWB) processing, and pre-flash (EF)processing.

In step S506, the system control unit 50 determines whether a secondshutter switch signal SW2 resulting from the shutter button 61 beingfull-pressed has been generated. If it is determined that the secondshutter switch signal SW2 has been generated, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S508, and if it is determined that thesecond shutter switch signal SW2 has not been generated, the systemcontrol unit 50 advances the processing to step S507.

In step S507, the system control unit 50 determines whether the user hasstopped pressing the shutter button 61, based on the first shutterswitch signal SW1. If it is determined that the user has stoppedpressing the shutter button 61, the system control unit 50 ends thestill image shooting processing, and if it is determined that thehalf-pressed state of the shutter button 61 continues, the systemcontrol unit 50 returns the processing to step S505.

In step S508, the system control unit 50 determines whether the stillimage self-timer has been set. If it is determined that the still imageself-timer has been set, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S509, and if it is determined that the still imageself-timer has not been set, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S513.

In step S509, the system control unit 50 starts countdown processing ofthe still image self-timer. In step S510, the system control unit 50displays a still image count on the display unit 28 according to theelapsed time of the countdown of the still image self-timer. FIG. 10Ashows an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 28 when thestill image self-timer is counting in the present embodiment, andreference numeral 1001 in FIG. 10A is an example of display of the stillimage count (the remaining time is “8” seconds in FIG. 10A).

As will be clarified through the following description, in the presentembodiment, the still image count is characterized by having a sizesmaller than the sizes of a moving image count, a live distributioncount, and a preview distribution count. This characteristic alsoenables the user to determine whether a given image is a still image,based on the count size of the self-timer.

In step S511, the system control unit 50 displays an icon indicating astill image on the display unit 28. Reference numeral 1002 in FIG. 10Ais an example of display of a still image icon displayed on the displayunit 28 in the present embodiment, and this still image icon is also anicon that is not displayed on the still image shooting standby screenshown in FIG. 9A, and appears simultaneously with the start of counting.

In step S512, the system control unit 50 determines whether the setnumber of seconds has elapsed since the start of still image countdown.If it is determined that the set number of seconds has elapsed since thestart of still image countdown, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S513, and if it is determined that the set number ofseconds has not elapsed, the system control unit 50 returns theprocessing to step S510.

In step S513, the system control unit 50 performs still image shootingprocessing such as reading out a signal from the image capturing unit22, development processing, and encoding.

In step S514, the system control unit 50 performs still-image creationprocessing for writing image data captured in the recording medium 200as an image file.

Note that this flow may be interrupted if an abnormal operation such asrotation of a mode dial during the flow is performed.

Next, an operation procedure for the moving image shooting processing instep S322 shown in FIG. 3A will be described with reference theflowcharts shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. FIGS. 6A and 6B are flowchartsshowing an example of processing performed from when the moving imagebutton 76 has been pressed until moving image capturing is completed inthe present embodiment.

In step S601, the system control unit 50 determines whether the movingimage button 76 has been pressed. If it is determined that the movingimage button 76 has been pressed, the system control unit 50 advancesthe processing to step S602, and if it is determined that the movingimage button 76 has not been pressed, the system control unit 50 returnsthe processing to S601.

In step S602, the system control unit 50 determines whether the movingimage self-timer has been set. If it is determined that the moving imageself-timer has been set, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S603, and if it is determined that the moving imageself-timer has not been set, the system control unit 50 advances to stepS607.

In step S603, the system control unit 50 starts countdown processing ofthe moving image self-timer.

In step S604, the system control unit 50 displays a moving image counton the display unit 28 according to the elapsed time of the countdown ofthe moving image self-timer. FIG. 10B shows an example of a screendisplayed on the display unit 28 when the moving image self-timer iscounting in the present embodiment. Reference numeral 1011 in FIG. 10Bis an example of display of the moving image count.

In step S605, the system control unit 50 displays an icon indicating amoving image on the display unit 28. Reference numeral 1012 in FIG. 10Bis an icon indicating a moving image, and is also an icon that is notdisplayed on the shooting standby screen shown in FIG. 9B, and appearssimultaneously with the start of counting.

In step S606, the system control unit 50 determines whether the setnumber of seconds has elapsed since the start of countdown. If it isdetermined that the set number of seconds has elapsed since the start ofcountdown, the system control unit 50 advances the processing to stepS607, and if it is determined that the set number of seconds has notelapsed, the system control unit 50 returns the processing to step S604.

In step S607, the system control unit 50 starts moving image recordingprocessing such as reading out an image signal from the image capturingunit 22 on a frame-by-frame basis, developing, encoding, and storage ina medium.

In step S608, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to stop moving image recording has been given by the movingimage button 76 being pressed. If it is determined that an instructionto stop moving image recording has been given, the system control unit50 advances the processing to step S609, and if it is determined thatthe instruction has not been given, the system control unit 50 returnsthe processing to step S608, and waits for input of the instruction tostop recoding.

In step S609, the system control unit 50 performs moving image recordingstop processing such as stopping reading out of a signal from the imagecapturing unit 22.

In step S610, the system control unit 50 closes the moving image filethat is in the process of being recorded in the recording medium 200,and performs processing for creating the final moving image file.

In step S611, the system control unit 50 determines whether the modebefore the transition that is stored in the memory 32 is the still imagerecording mode. If it is determined that the mode before the transitionis the still image recording mode, the system control unit 50 advancesthe processing to step S612, and if it is determined that the modebefore the transition is not the still image recording mode, the systemcontrol unit 50 ends this moving image shooting processing.

In step S612, the system control unit 50 changes the camera state to thestill image recording mode.

Note that this flow may be interrupted if an abnormal operation such asrotation of a mode dial during the flow is performed.

Next, an operation procedure for the live distribution processing instep S323 shown in FIG. 3B will be described with reference to FIGS. 7Aand 7B. FIGS. 7A and 7B are flowcharts showing an example of processingperformed from when the moving image button 76 has been pressed untillive distribution is completed in the present embodiment.

In step S701, the system control unit 50 determines whether the movingimage button 76 has been pressed by the user. If it is determined thatthe moving image button 76 has been pressed, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S702, and if it is determined that themoving image button 76 has not been pressed, the system control unit 50returns the processing to step S701.

In step S702, the system control unit 50 determines whether the pressingtime of the moving image button 76 is one second or more, i.e., whetherthe moving image button 76 has been pressed and held. If it isdetermined that the pressing time of the moving image button is onesecond or more, i.e., the moving image button 76 has been pressed andheld, the system control unit 50 advances the processing to step S703,and if it is determined that the pressing time is less than (below) onesecond, i.e., the moving image button 76 has been pressed and released,the system control unit 50 advances the processing to step S708.Although the determination is made here with reference to one second, itis also possible to allow the user to set the reference time, anddetermination may be made based on whether the pressing time is greaterthan or equal to the set reference time.

In step S703, the system control unit 50 determines whether the livedistribution self-timer has been set. If it is determined that the livedistribution self-timer has been set, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S704, and if it is determined that thelive distribution self-timer has not been set, the system control unit50 advances the processing to step S708.

That is, regardless of whether the user has pressed and released themoving image button 76, or the user has pressed and held the movingimage button 76, the system control unit 50 skips countdown processing,which will be described below, if the live distribution timer has notbeen set.

In step S704, the system control unit 50 starts countdown processing ofthe live distribution self-timer. In step S705, the system control unit50 displays a live distribution count on the display unit 28 accordingto the elapsed time of the countdown of the live distributionself-timer. FIG. 10C shows an example of a screen displayed on thedisplay unit 28 when the live distribution self-timer is counting in thepresent embodiment. Reference numeral 1021 shown in FIG. 10C is anexample of display of the live distribution count.

Note that in the present embodiment, the live distribution count ischaracterized by having a color different from the colors of the stillimage count, the moving image count, and the preview distribution count.This provides an effect that the user can determine whether the mode islive distribution based on the color of the count of the self-timer.

In step S706, the system control unit 50 displays a live distributionicon on the display unit 28. Reference numeral 1022 in FIG. 10C is anexample of display of the live distribution icon displayed on thedisplay unit 28 in the present embodiment. The icon 1022 is an icon thatis not displayed when the shooting standby screen in FIG. 9C isdisplayed, and appears simultaneously with the start of counting.

In step S707, the system control unit 50 determines whether the setnumber of seconds has elapsed since the start of countdown. If it isdetermined that the set number of seconds has elapsed since the start ofcountdown, the system control unit 50 advances the processing to stepS708, and if it is determined that the set number of seconds has notelapsed, the system control unit 50 continues the countdown by returningthe processing to step S705.

In step S708, the system control unit 50 determines whethercommunication has already been established with an image communicationapparatus serving as an image data distribution destination, and previewdistribution is being performed between the camera and the imagecommunication apparatus. If it is determined that preview distributionis being performed between the camera and the image communicationapparatus serving as the image data distribution destination, the systemcontrol unit 50 advances the processing to step S710. If it isdetermined that preview distribution is not being performed between thecamera and the image communication apparatus serving as the image datadistribution destination (including a case where no connection isestablished with the image communication apparatus serving as the imagedata distribution destination), the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S709.

In step S709, the system control unit 50 establishes a connection withthe image communication apparatus serving as the distributiondestination, using a wireless LAN function of the communication unit 54.In step S710, the system control unit 50 performs preview distributionstop processing such as a preview distribution stop request to the imagecommunication apparatus serving as the image data distributiondestination.

In step S711, the system control unit 50 transmits, for example, arequest to the image communication apparatus serving as the image datadistribution destination to prepare to start live distribution, thusprompting live distribution start preparation processing.

In step S712, the system control unit 50 receives state information fromthe image communication apparatus serving as the image data distributiondestination, and, based on this information, determines whether theimage communication apparatus has completed preparation to start livedistribution. If it is determined that the preparation to start livedistribution by the image communication apparatus serving as the imagedata distribution destination has been completed, the system controlunit 50 advances the processing to step S713, and if it is determinedthat the preparation to start live distribution has not been completed,the system control unit 50 returns the processing to step S712, andwaits for completion of the preparation.

In step S713, an image acquired by reading out a signal from the imagecapturing unit 22 is distributed to the image communication apparatusvia the communication unit 54. Consequently, live distribution of theimage, such as making the image publicly available to a third party, isstarted.

In step S714, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to stop live distribution has been given by the moving imagebutton 76 being pressed. If it is determined that an instruction to stoplive distribution has been given, the system control unit 50 advancesthe processing to step S715, and if it is determined that theinstruction has not been given, the system control unit 50 returns theprocessing to step S714, and continues the live distribution until aninstruction to stop live distribution is given.

In step S715, the system control unit 50 performs live distribution stopprocessing such as stopping reading out of a signal from the imagecapturing unit 22 and interrupting public exposure of the distributiondata to a third party.

In step S716, the system control unit 50 disconnects the connection withthe image communication apparatus serving as the distributiondestination established using the wireless LAN function of thecommunication unit 54.

Note that this flow may be interrupted if an abnormal operation such asrotation of a mode dial during the flow is performed.

Next, an operation procedure for the preview distribution processing instep S324 shown in FIG. 3B will be described with reference to FIGS. 8Aand 8B. FIGS. 8A and 8B are flowcharts showing an example of processingperformed from when the moving image button 76 has been pressed untilpreview distribution is completed in the present embodiment.

In step S801, the system control unit 50 determines whether the movingimage button 76 has been pressed by the user. If it is determined thatthe moving image button 76 has been pressed, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S802, and if it is determined that themoving image button 76 has not been pressed, the system control unit 50returns the processing to step S801.

In step S802, the system control unit 50 determines whether the movingimage button 76 has been pressed for one second or more by the user,i.e., whether the moving image button 76 has been pressed and held bythe user. If it is determined that the pressing time of the moving imagebutton 76 is one second or more, i.e., the moving image button 76 hasbeen pressed and held, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S803, and if it is determined that the pressing timeof the moving image button 76 is less then one second, i.e., the movingimage button 76 has been pressed and released, the system control unit50 advances the processing to step S808.

In step S803, the system control unit 50 determines whether the previewdistribution self-timer has been set. If it is determined that thepreview distribution self-timer has been set, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S804, and if it is determined that thepreview distribution self-timer has not been set, the system controlunit 50 advances the processing to step S808.

In step S804, the system control unit 50 starts countdown processing ofthe preview distribution self-timer. In step S805, the system controlunit 50 displays a preview distribution count on the display unit 28according to the elapsed time of the countdown of the previewdistribution self-timer. FIG. 10D shows an example of a screen displayedon the display unit 28 when the preview distribution self-timer iscounting in the present embodiment. Reference numeral 1031 in FIG. 10Dshows an example of display of the preview distribution count.

Note that in the present embodiment, the preview distribution count ischaracterized by having a color different from the colors of the stillimage count, the moving image count, and the live distribution count.This provides an effect that the user can determine whether the mode ispreview distribution based on the color of the count of the self-timer.

In step S806, the system control unit 50 displays a preview distributionicon on the display unit 28. Reference numeral 1032 in FIG. 10Dindicates the preview distribution icon. The icon 1032 is not displayedon the shooting standby screen shown in FIG. 9D, and is displayed onlyafter countdown has been started.

In step S807, the system control unit 50 determines whether the setnumber of seconds has elapsed since the start of countdown. If it isdetermined that the set number of seconds has elapsed since the start ofcountdown, the system control unit 50 advances the processing to stepS808, and if it is determined that the set number of seconds has notelapsed, the system control unit 50 returns the processing to step S805.

In step S808, the system control unit 50 establishes a connection withthe image communication apparatus serving as the distributiondestination, using a wireless LAN function of the communication unit 54.

In step S809, the system control unit 50 transmits, for example, arequest to the image communication apparatus serving as the image datadistribution destination to prepare to start preview distribution, thusprompting preview distribution start preparation processing.

In step S810, the system control unit 50 determines whether preparationto start preview distribution by the image communication apparatusserving as the image data distribution destination has been completed,based on state information received from the image communicationapparatus serving as the image data distribution destination. If it isdetermined that the preparation to start preview distribution by theimage communication apparatus serving as the image data distributiondestination has been completed, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S811, and if it is determined that the preparation tostart preview distribution has not been completed, the system controlunit 50 returns the processing to step S810, and waits for completion ofthe preparation.

In step S811, the system control unit 50 starts preview distributionprocessing such as distributing an image acquired by reading out asignal from the image capturing unit 22 to the image communicationapparatus.

In step S812, the system control unit 50 determines whether the movingimage button 76 has been pressed. If it is determined that the movingimage button 76 has been pressed, the system control unit 50 advancesthe processing to step S813, and if it is determined that the movingimage button 76 has not been pressed, the system control unit 50 returnsthe processing to step S812, and waits for pressing of the moving imagebutton 76.

In step S813, the system control unit 50 determines whether a livedistribution switching function is assigned to the moving image button76. If it is determined that the live distribution switching function isassigned to the moving image button 76, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S702 in FIG. 7A, and if it is determinedthat the live distribution switching function is not assigned, thesystem control unit 50 advances the processing to step S814.

Note that the assignment of the live distribution switching function maybe changed according to the change of the menu setting, or the model ofthe apparatus to be equipped with the function. Also, an instruction toswitch to live distribution may be given by pressing the moving imagebutton 76 twice, or switching to live distribution may be performedusing an operation member other than the moving image button 76.

In step S814, the system control unit 50 performs preview distributionstop processing such as stopping reading out of a signal from the imagecapturing unit 22 and interrupting distribution of image data. In stepS815, the system control unit 50 disconnects the connection, establishedusing the wireless LAN function of the communication unit 54, with theimage communication apparatus serving as the distribution destination.

Note that this flow may be interrupted if an abnormal operation such asrotation of a mode dial during the flow is performed.

Next, another example of the mutual transition between the previewdistribution mode and the live distribution mode will be described inthe following.

FIGS. 12A-12C are flowcharts of a series of main processing performedfrom selection of live distribution or preview distribution tocompletion of live distribution or preview distribution in the presentembodiment. Each processing shown in FIGS. 12A-12C is implemented by thesystem control unit 50 loading the program stored in the non-volatilememory 56 to the system memory 52 and executing the program, when thepower switch 72 is turned on.

In step S1201, the system control unit 50 determines whether aninstruction to transition to the live distribution mode, or aninstruction to transition to the preview distribution mode, has beengiven by the user. If it is determined that an instruction to transitionto the live distribution mode has been given, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S1203. If it is determined that aninstruction to transition to the preview distribution mode has beengiven, the system control unit 50 advances the processing to step S1202.

In step S1202, the system control unit 50 performs preview distributionmode setting processing. Then, in step S1204, the system control unit 50determines whether the moving image button 76 has been pressed by theuser. If it is determined that the moving image button 76 has beenpressed, the system control unit 50 advances the processing to stepS1205, and if it is determined that the moving image button 76 has notbeen pressed, the system control unit 50 returns the processing to stepS1204, and waits for pressing of the moving image button 76.

In step S1205, the system control unit 50 determines whether thepressing time of the moving image button 76 is one second or more. If itis determined that the pressing time of the moving image button 76 isone second or more, the system control unit 50 advances the processingto step S1217. If it is determined that the pressing time of the movingimage button 76 is less than one second, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S1206.

In step S1206, the system control unit 50 starts preview distribution.Then, in step S1207, the system control unit 50 displays, at apredetermined position on the screen, an icon indicating that previewdistribution is being performed. Note that the displaying of this iconmay be replaced by blinking the icon displayed on the upper left cornerof FIG. 9D or changing the color thereof.

Then, in step S1208A, the system control unit 50 determines whether themoving image button 76 has been pressed again by the user. If it isdetermined that the moving image button 76 has not been pressed again bythe user, the system control unit 50 returns the processing to stepS1208A, and continues the preview distribution. If it is determined thatthe moving image button 76 has been pressed again by the user, thesystem control unit 50 advances the processing to step S1208B.

In step S1208B, the system control unit 50 determines whether the timefor which the moving image button 76 has been pressed by the user is onesecond or more. If it is determined that the pressing time of the movingimage button 76 is one second or more, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S1210, and if it is determined that thepressing time is less than one second, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S1209.

In step S1209, the system control unit 50 stops the previewdistribution, and returns the processing to step S1204. That is, when atransition to the preview distribution mode has been made, previewdistribution is performed if the moving image button 76 is pressed forless than one second, and preview distribution is stopped if the movingimage button 76 is pressed again for less than one second.

As described above, the processing advances to step S1210 if the userhas pressed the moving image button 76 for one second or more when apreview image is being distributed. If this condition is satisfied, thesystem control unit 50 performs switching from the preview distributionmode to the live distribution mode (switching of the transmissiondestination). However, in the embodiment, the user is allowed to selectthe timing at which actual live image distribution is started in thelive distribution mode. The following is a specific example thereof.

In step S1210, the system control unit 50 alternately displays themessage “TIMER ON” and the message “TIMER OFF” at a preset time interval(e.g., one second) on the display unit 28 until releasing of thepressing of the moving image button 76 by the user is detected. Notethat the system control unit 50 continues the preview distribution whenthe pressing of the moving image button 76 by the user is beingdetected.

In step S1211, the system control unit 50 determines whether thepressing of the moving image button 76 by the user has been released atthe timing when the “TIMER ON” message is being displayed. If it isdetermined that the pressing of the moving image button 76 has beenreleased at the timing when “TIMER ON” is being displayed, the systemcontrol unit 50 advances the processing to step S1212, and if it isdetermined that the pressing of the moving image button 76 has beenreleased at the timing when “TIMER OFF” is being displayed, the systemcontrol unit 50 advances the processing to step S1217.

In step S1212, the system control unit 50 starts countdown processing.The time of this countdown is a time set by the user when setting theconfiguration of the live distribution mode. Then, in step S1213, thesystem control unit 50 displays a count until the start of livedistribution on the display unit 28 according to the elapsed time of thecountdown. In step S1214, the system control unit 50 determines whetherthe set number of seconds has elapsed. If it is determined that the setnumber of seconds has elapsed, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S1217, and if it is determined that the set number ofseconds has not been elapsed, the system control unit 50 returns theprocessing to step S1213, and waits for an elapse of the set time.

In step S1203, the system control unit 50 performs live distributionmode setting processing. In step S1215, the system control unit 50determines whether the moving image button 76 has been pressed. If it isdetermined that the moving image button 76 has been pressed, the systemcontrol unit 50 advances the processing to step S1216, and if it isdetermined that the moving image button 76 has not been pressed, thesystem control unit 50 returns the processing to step S1215, and waitsfor pressing of the moving image button 76.

In step S1216, the system control unit 50 determines whether pressingtime of the moving image button 76 by the user is one second or more. Ifit is determined that the pressing time of the moving image button 76 isone second or more, the system control unit 50 advances the processingto step S1206, and if it is determined that the pressing time of themoving image button 76 is less than one second, the system control unit50 advances the processing to step S1217.

In step S1217, the system control unit 50 starts live distribution.Then, in step S1218, the system control unit 50 displays, on the displayunit 28, an icon indicating that live distribution is being performed.Note that the displaying of this icon may be replaced by blinking theicon displayed on the upper left corner of FIG. 9C or changing the colorthereof.

Then, in step S1219A, the system control unit 50 determines whether themoving image button 76 has been pressed again by the user. If it isdetermined that the moving image button 76 has not been pressed again bythe user, the system control unit 50 returns the processing to stepS1219A, and continues the live distribution. If it is determined thatthe moving image button 76 has been pressed again by the user, thesystem control unit 50 advances the processing to step S1219B.

In step S1219B, the system control unit 50 determines whether the timefor which the moving image button 76 has been pressed by the user is onesecond or more. If it is determined that the pressing time of the movingimage button 76 is one second or more, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S1221, and if it is determined that thepressing time is less than one second, the system control unit 50advances the processing to step S1220.

In step S1220, the system control unit 50 stops the live distribution,and returns the processing to step S1215. That is, when a transition tothe live distribution mode has been made, live distribution is performedif the moving image button 76 is pressed for less than one second, andlive distribution is stopped if the moving image button 76 is pressedagain for less than one second.

As described above, the processing advances to step S1221, if the userhas pressed the moving image button 76 for one second or more when livedistribution is being performed. If this condition is satisfied, thesystem control unit 50 performs switching from the live distributionmode to the preview distribution mode. However, in the embodiment, theuser is allowed to select the timing at which actual previewdistribution is started in the preview distribution mode.

In step S1221, the system control unit 50 alternately displays themessage “TIMER ON” and the message “TIMER OFF” at a preset time interval(e.g., one second) on the display unit 28 until releasing of thepressing of the moving image button 76 by the user is detected. Notethat the system control unit 50 continues the preview distribution whenthe pressing of the moving image button 76 by the user is beingdetected.

In step S1222, the system control unit 50 determines whether thepressing of the moving image button 76 by the user has been released atthe timing when the “TIMER ON” message is being displayed. If it isdetermined that the pressing of the moving image button 76 has beenreleased at the timing when “TIMER ON” is being displayed, the systemcontrol unit 50 advances the processing to step S1223, and if it isdetermined that the pressing of the moving image button 76 has beenreleased at the timing when “TIMER OFF” is being displayed, the systemcontrol unit 50 advances the processing to step S1206.

In step S1223, the system control unit 50 starts countdown processing.The time of this countdown is a time set by the user when setting theconfiguration of the preview distribution mode. Then, in step S1224, thesystem control unit 50 displays a count until the start of previewdistribution on the display unit 28 according to the elapsed time of thecountdown. In step S1225, the system control unit 50 determines whetherthe set number of seconds has elapsed. If it is determined that the setnumber of seconds has elapsed, the system control unit 50 advances theprocessing to step S1206, and if it is determined that the set number ofseconds has not elapsed, the system control unit 50 returns theprocessing to step S1224, and waits for an elapse of the set time.

As described above, according to the embodiment, it is possible totransition to the live distribution mode when the preview distributionprocessing is being performed. Moreover, the user can select whether toperform live distribution immediately or after a countdown, by selectingthe pressing time of a single button (the moving image button 76 in theembodiment) to instruct a transition. The same also applies to thetransition of the preview distribution mode when the live distributionprocessing is being performed.

Although the above embodiment has been described taking a digital cameraas an example, the present invention is applicable to any apparatus(e.g., a mobile phone, tablet PC, a smartphone, etc.) having both animage-capturing function and a communication function, and the presentinvention is therefore not limited by the above embodiment.

In the above embodiment, when displaying the number of the countdown,the size and the color of the display area in which that number isdisplayed are dependent on the shooting mode; however, the display formmay be determined according to the difference in mode, and the presentinvention is therefore not limited by the above embodiment mode.

In addition to the functions described in the above embodiment, thedigital camera 100 may further have the function of performing remoteshooting by transmitting a live-view image to a smartphone, rather thanperforming live distribution to a server. In this case, the digitalcamera 100 implements live-view display on the smartphone bytransmitting a captured image to the smartphone at any time, withoutperforming countdown of the timer. In this manner, in a situation where,unlike live distribution, there is no danger of distributing anyunnecessary image to a large number of unspecified people, the countdownof the time is not performed even though this function also performsreal-time capturing and transmitting of images. Accordingly, the remoteshooting function can be smoothly started.

In addition, the digital camera 100 may have the function of uploading,to a server, content that has already been recorded. In this case,real-time image capturing is not performed at the timing at which anuploading operation is performed, no unnecessary content will be createdas a result of the operation associated with uploading. Therefore, alsoin this case, the digital camera 100 uploads the content to the serverwithout performing the countdown of the timer.

Other Embodiments

Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by acomputer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computerexecutable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on astorage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/orthat includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or moreof the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by thecomputer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out andexecuting the computer executable instructions from the storage mediumto perform the functions of one or more of the above-describedembodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). Thecomputer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processingunit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network ofseparate computers or separate processors to read out and execute thecomputer executable instructions. The computer executable instructionsmay be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or thestorage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or moreof a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM),a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™),a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2019-003611, filed Jan. 11, 2019, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image capturing apparatus comprising imagecapturing unit, and communication unit arranged to communicate with adistribution server via the internet, wherein the image capturingapparatus comprises: a time measuring unit configured to measure, if adistribution instruction for live distribution using the distributionserver has been given, an elapsed time since the distributioninstruction has been given; and a control unit configured to start, ifthe elapsed time measured by the time measuring unit has reached a settime, distributing an image captured by the image capturing unit to thedistribution server via the communication unit.
 2. The image capturingapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a setting unitconfigured to enable a user to set the set time.
 3. The image capturingapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the setting unit is configuredto set a plurality of set times, the distribution instruction includesan instruction to select one of the plurality of set times, and thecontrol unit is configured to start distributing an image captured bythe image capturing unit to the distribution server via thecommunication unit after the elapsed time measured by the time measuringunit has reached the selected set time.
 4. The image capturing apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein the control unit is configured to startdistributing an image captured by the image capturing unit to thedistribution server via the communication unit after the selected settime has been reached, if a preset button has been pressed by the userfor a predetermined time or longer, and is configured to startdistributing an image captured by the image capturing unit to thedistribution server via the communication unit without waiting for anelapse of the set time set with the setting unit, if the preset buttonhas been pressed by the user for less than the predetermined time. 5.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:a display unit configured to display a remaining time before reachingthe predetermined set time measured by the time measuring unit.
 6. Theimage capturing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the imagecapturing apparatus has a plurality of modes including a distributionmode in which a captured image is distributed to the distributionserver, and a moving image shooting mode in which a captured image isrecorded as a moving image, and the display unit is configured todisplay the remaining time before reaching the predetermined set timemeasured by the time measuring unit in the distribution mode, the timemeasuring unit is further configured to measure, if a recordinginstruction for recording a moving image has been given, an elapsed timesince the recording instruction has been given; and the display unit isalso configured to display a remaining time before reaching a time whichis the same as the predetermined set time measured by the time measuringunit in the moving image shooting mode.
 7. The image capturing apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein a display of the remaining time in thedistribution mode stands out from a display of the remaining time in themoving image shooting mode.
 8. The image capturing apparatus accordingto claim 5, wherein the image capturing apparatus has a plurality ofmodes including a distribution mode in which a captured image isdistributed to the distribution server, a still image recording mode inwhich a captured image is recorded as a still image, and the timemeasuring unit is further configured to measure, if a shootinginstruction for shooting a still image has been given, an elapsed timesince the shooting instruction has been given; and the control unit isconfigured to start, if the elapsed time since the shooting instructionhas reached a second predetermined set time, capturing a still mage bythe image capturing unit.
 9. The image capturing apparatus according toclaim 8, wherein the second predetermined set time and the predeterminedset time are set individually.
 10. The image capturing apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein a display of the remaining time in thedistribution mode stands out from a display of the remaining time in thestill image recording mode.
 11. The image capturing apparatus accordingto claim 5, wherein the image capturing apparatus has a plurality ofmodes including a distribution mode in which a captured image isdistributed to the distribution server, a still image recording mode inwhich a captured image is recorded as a still image, and a moving imageshooting mode in which a captured image is recorded as a moving image,and the display unit is configured to display a display form of theremaining time in the distribution mode in a different form for each ofthe modes.
 12. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 11,wherein the display unit is configured to display the remaining time inan area having a different size dependent on each of the modes, or todisplay the remaining time in a different color dependent on each of themodes.
 13. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 11, whereinthe distribution mode includes a live distribution mode in which acaptured image is distributed as a live moving image, and a previewdistribution mode in which a captured image is distributed as a previewof a moving image.
 14. The image capturing apparatus according to claim1, wherein the communication unit is further configured to communicatewith a smartphone, and the control unit is configured to transmit animage captured by the image capturing unit to the smartphone withoutwaiting the elapsed time.
 15. The image capturing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to transmit an imagecaptured by the image capturing unit to the distribution sever withoutwaiting the elapsed time in a case where the image is already capturedand already recorded.
 16. The image capturing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the image which is transmitted to the distributionsever is not recorded.
 17. The image capturing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the image which is transmitted to the distributionsever is recorded in parallel of the distributing.
 18. A control methodof an image capturing apparatus including image capturing unit, andcommunication unit arranged to communicate with a distribution servervia the internet, the method comprising: measuring, if a distributioninstruction for live distribution using the distribution server has beengiven, an elapsed time since the distribution instruction has beengiven; and controlling to start, if the elapsed time measured by thetime measuring processing has reached a predetermined set time,distributing an image captured by the image capturing unit to thedistribution server via the communication unit.
 19. A computer-readablestorage medium storing program which, when read and executed by acomputer, causes the computer to perform the steps of a control methodof an image capturing apparatus including image capturing unit, andcommunication unit for communicating with a distribution server viainternet, the method comprising: measuring, if a distributioninstruction for live distribution using the distribution server has beengiven, an elapsed time since the distribution instruction has beengiven; and controlling to start, if the elapsed time measured by thetime measuring processing has reached a predetermined set time,distributing an image captured by the image capturing unit to thedistribution server via the communication unit.